Optical fiber sensors are utilized for various functions including communication and measurements, e.g., to obtain various surface and downhole measurements, such as pressure, temperature, stress and strain.
One loss mechanism in optical fibers is Rayleigh scatter. This very low backscattered signal is the basis of optical time domain reflectometry and other technologies, e.g. distributed acoustics. Due to the low signal levels, detection of signals resulting from such scattering can be difficult, resulting in low signal to noise ratios (SNR).